Feb-26-19
 | | Phony Benoni: Two moves get noticed immediately: 26.Rf8+ (going for the queen after 26..>Rxf8 27.Qxe2) and 26.Rxg7+, going for the king. Once you notice the bi26.shop is protecting f8, it's easy: 26.Rxg7+ Kxg7 27.Rg5+ and mate next.
26.Rxg7+ Kh8 27.Rxh7+ Kxg7 28.Qf7+ and I'm tired of typing. |
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| Feb-26-19 | | vonKrolock: 26...♔h8 could prolongate a little the resistance, but 27.♖xh7+! would also result in a forced ▢ mating sequence... |
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| Feb-26-19 | | agb2002: White has an extra pawn.
White can attack the black castle with the heavy pieces starting with 26.Rxg7+: A) 26... Kxg7 27.Rg5+ Kh6(8) 28.Qf6#.
B) 26... Kh8 27.Rxh7+
B.1) 27... Kxh7 28.Rh5+
B.1.a) 28... Kg6 29.Qf5+ Kg7 30.Rh7+ Kg8 31.Qf7#. B.1.b) 28... Kg7 29.Rg5+ Kh6(8) (29... Kh7 30.Qf7+ Kh6(8) 31.Qg7#) 30.Qf6+ Kh7 31.Qg7#. B.1.c) 28... Kg8 29.Rg5+ as above.
B.2) 27... Kg8 28.Rg5+ Kxh7 29.Qf7+Kh6(8) 30.Qg7#. |
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| Feb-26-19 | | FairyPromotion: I don't usually fail Tuesday puzzles, but I did so today. My instict was that I shall take the queen with 26. Qxe2, and that there should be a forced mate afterwards if black captures mine. I saw 26. Qxe2!? Rxe2 27. Bxd4! (D), after which 27...Rxd4 fails to 28. Ra8+ followed by mate on f8, and that 27...Re8 fails to 28. Rxg7+ Kh8 29. Rh5!
click for larger viewHowever I noticed that black can defend mate with Bf8, Re7 or Be7, all of which drop the b6 pawn, entering a clearly losing endgame, thus concluding that this was indeed the solution. The spite check with Re1 doesn't accomplish anything for black at any moment. While my calculations were accurate, missing <26. Rxg7+!> feels kind of bad. |
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| Feb-26-19 | | saturn2: I saw 26. Rxg7+
26..Kh8 27. Rxh7+ Kxh7 28. Rh5+ Kg6 29. Qf5+ Kg7 30. Rh7+ Kg8 31. Qg6+ Kf8 32. Qf7# 26. Kxg7 27. Rg5+ Kh8 28. Qf6# |
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| Feb-26-19 | | Walter Glattke: Too easy |
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| Feb-26-19 | | et1: I instantly saw Rf8 winning the Queen and stopped. |
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| Feb-26-19 | | Olsonist: I didn't get the mate but Rf8+ RxR QxQ
Basically, Black's in a bad way. |
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| Feb-26-19 | | ndg2: I also failed with Rf8+?? |
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| Feb-26-19 | | ndg2: Guys, you do see now that the bishop protects the f8 square, too? |
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| Feb-26-19 | | stacase: 26.Rxg7+ was the only move to make (Black accepted the Rook sacrifice) - but then what? It took me way too long looking at Qb7+ and Rf7+ and Bxd4+ to finally realize that 27.Rg5+ leads to 28.Qf6# Yeah but, what if Black didn't accept the Rook sac? and it was 26...Kh8? Then 27.Rxh7+ I had to set up a board and play it out to see that Black's King can wiggle a little bit longer but it's a forced mate and not a draw by repetition because Re5+ forces Black to finally accept the Rook sac and mate follows shortly. |
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| Feb-26-19 | | cocker: I'm joining the elite brigade who chose 26 Rf8+, overlooking that after 26 … Bxf8 the bishop protects g7. |
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| Feb-26-19 | | RandomVisitor: From Tkachiev's bio:
"Tkachiev is also a noted blitz player, capturing the 2004 Moscow Blitz Superfinal ahead of Alexander Morozevich." Perhaps this 2009 blitz game is a kind of payback... |
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| Feb-26-19 | | Jambow: Yeah Tuesday pretty sure I see that in blitz on a normal day. Morozevich is a monster because he can get those positions to begin with. |
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| Feb-26-19 | | et1: OOOOOPPPSS the bishop ! This is what happens when I try to solve problems before coffee ! :) |
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| Feb-26-19 | | Whitehat1963: Silly me. I went after the queen rather than play for mate. |
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| Feb-26-19 | | mel gibson: So easy - LOL. |
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| Feb-26-19 | | catlover: This puzzle reminds me of a saying attributed to Emmanuel Lasker: "When you see a good move, wait—don't play it! You might find a better move." |
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| Feb-26-19 | | Cheapo by the Dozen: My situation is similar to <FairyPromotion>'s. I found the Bxd4 solution, and even though it's too hard for a Tuesday I stopped there. The basic ideas to that line, by the way, are that if Black plays ... Rxd4, then Qxe2 pulls his other rook off the back rank as well, after which Ra8 mates after some useless interpositions. But if Black allows a protcted Rxg7+ (even by taking White's queen), then the Rd7+ followup shields White's bishop and thus is devastating. |
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| Feb-26-19 | | patzer2: For today's Tuesday puzzle (26. ?), the game continuation 26. Rxg7+! Kxg7 27. Rg5+ 1-0 which forces mate on the next move (i.e. 27...Kh8 28. Qf6# or 27...Kh6 28. Qf6#) makes it look like an easy mate-in-three problem. However, if Black replies 26...Kh8 (diagram below) 
click for larger viewthe solution is suddenly not so simple.
Instead, it (26. ?) becomes a more difficult mate-in-six problem with the full solution being 26. Rxg7+! Kh8 (diagram above) 27.Rxh7+! Kxh7 28.Rh5+ Kg7 (28...Kg6 29.Qf5+ Kg7 30.Rh7+ Kg8 31.Qf7#) 29.Rg5+ Kh8 30.Qf6+ Kh7 31.Qg7#. P.S.: So where did Black go wrong? The decisive mistake appears to be 20...a5?, dropping a pawn to 21. Rxe5 +- (+2.93 @ 32 ply, Stockfish 10). Instead, any reasonable move (e.g. 20...Qe6 ∓, 20...Bf6 ∓, 20...Bf8 ∓, 20...Bc5 ∓, 20...Bg5 ∓) to defend the e5 pawn would have given Black a good game. I like the improvement 20...Bf8 ∓ (-1.18 @ 30 ply) when Stockfish 10 indicates play might go 20...Bf8 21.Rad1 a5 22.Bc1 Bc5 23.Bg5 Rc8 24.Bc1 Qe6 25.Bf4 e4 26.Qh5 g6 27.Qh3 Qc6 28.Qg2 Re6 29.a4 Rce8 30.Re2 Kg7 31.Red2 Bb4 32.Re2 Bc3 33.h4 Qc5 34.Bg5 Qb4 35.dxe4 Qxb3 -+ (-4.38 @ 29 ply, Stockfish 10). |
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| Feb-26-19 | | get Reti: I don't think anyone mentioned this, but I saw a longer winning line after 26...Kh8, instead of 27. Rxh8+ (which forces mate), white can play 27. Bxd4+! Qxf3 (...Rxd4 leads to Rf8+ followed by mate) 28. Rd7+ Kg8 29. Rg5+ Kf8 30. Bg7+ Kg8 31. Bc3+ Kf8 32. Bxb4+ Rd7 33. Rxd7 with an easy win for white. |
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| Feb-26-19 | | whiteshark: With <♕♖♖ vs ♔> this is what happens to the sole ♔ #inevitableDestiny |
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Feb-26-19
 | | Jimfromprovidence: I got it a little differently, 26 Rxg7+ Kh8 27 Rh5.
click for larger view |
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| Feb-26-19 | | zb2cr: 26. Rxg7+.
The main line, immediate acceptance of the sacrifice:
26. ... Kxg7; 27. Rg5+. Whether Black plays 27. ... Kh8 or 27. ... Kh6, White mates with 28. Qf6#. More interesting line, deferred acceptance of the sacrifice:
26. ... Kh8; 27. Rxh7+. Now, 2 alternatives:
A. 27. ... Kg8; 28. Rg5+, Kxh7; 29. Qf7+ and mate next move. B. 27. ... Kxh7; 28. Rh5+, Kg7; 29. Rg5+, Kh7; 30. Qf7+ and mate next move. |
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| Dec-18-20 | | Walter Glattke: What agb said above. White can play 27.Rf7+? 27.-Kg8! 28.Qf6 Qe5 29.Rg7+ Kh8 30.Bxd4!? Rxd4 or 27.Qb7+? Qe7! |
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Kibitzing
sac: 26.Rxg7+
